The head of Church Army has called on the Church of England to pour more of its resources into fresh expressions of church.

In the latest Fresh Expressions podcast, Chief Executive Mark Russell criticised the Church for “maintaining the institution and clergy pensions” at the expense of pioneering new forms of church.

Mr Russell said he was disappointed that when the Church Commissioners had given money to dioceses for the specific purpose of pioneering mission, some of them “threw the money straight into the diocesan stipend account”.

He urged the Church to rethink its priorities and start investing its money in pioneering new churches.

“You judge the priorities of an organisation by where and how it spends its cash,” he said.

“If you were cynical, you’d say the Church priorities revolve around maintaining the institution and clergy pensions.

“When it comes to fresh expressions of church, many dioceses seem to be talking the talk, but not walking the walk.

“The actual amount of money spent on pioneering and fresh expressions is quite small compared to how much is spent in total on clergy stipends.”

Fresh Expressions was initiated by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in partnership with the Methodist Council in 2005. It seeks to encourage new forms of church and has since grown to include the United Reformed Church.

The latest podcast is available here:
www.freshexpressions.org.uk/podcast/may10